PLDN Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3: The Calm Before... Sub-Entry 021: "Thunder, Rain and Lightning": Station Square. A city not unlike any typical city on Earth. But it was anything but a typical day. For on this day...the God of Destruction known as Perfect Chaos had his revenge. The Echidnas had foolishly enraged him when they attacked the shrine to steal the Chaos Emeralds; in the process the innocent Chao were trampled in their path. WIth the power of seven chaos, fueled by his rage, Perfect Chaos laid waste to the world...until he was sealed away in the Master Emerald only for Dr. Robotnik/Eggman to foolishly unleash him on the world again. Now he was loose and had absorbed all of the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds, leaving them colorless multifaceted gems in the streets. The city was almost completely underwater and the water just kept coming. It looked like this was the end. But against all odds a hero stood defiantly against this angry water-dragoon god-beast. "Chaos only absorbed the negative energy of the emeralds. You should be able to use their REAL power." The two-tailed kitsune counterpart of our own Miles Prowler urged as he handed over one of the dead jewels. As more friends gathered and handed over the recovered Chaos Emeralds. "You're our only hope now." "You got this." The cheers kept coming as the positive emotions all around began to build. With that rise in the power of positivity the Chaos Emeralds began to regain their colors and glow. In a bright light, their power became their holder's power. When the light subsided, the golden, fiery aura glowed brightly as the hero lifted off the ground, hovering in place. "I'm ready." Asriel Dreemurr-Arcade smashed his knuckles into his palm. His fur was as shiny, metallic gold as my own...but far more sparkling and etherial. Like he had ascended to god-like powers. ...I think I just gave myself a scare. Easy, Volt. Easy. Hyperdeath is never coming back. Asriel tightened his sandals, shoved up his jacket sleeves, cracked his knuckles like a maestro, and hovered up off the intact bridge and over to the stretches of broken overpasses and highways and went into superspeed hoverdashes. Each stretch of broken path held a "zipper track"--a speed-boosting conveyor belt that slingshot him to even higher levels of sonic speed. "The clock starts now, Goat Son. Show me what you can do!" Vi's voice came over Asriel's com-link. "The NPC's were right. I got this, Aunt Vi. I've been training for five years, it's time I took it to the next level." "Let's just get you comfortable with generation six games in the simulator, first. Just because you can feel your way around Lylat Wars, you thrash as a Panzer Dragoon, and humiliated N. Cortex, doesn't mean you'll have it as easy in the 128-bit era." Asriel hit every zipper track he could steer into. And a good thing, too, because that was when Perfect Chaos' attacks came in. "Typhoons incoming." "I see em'." Asriel watched as the cylindrical waterspout vorteces spun their way toward them. Up ahead, Perfect Chaos could be seen, rising up out of the center of the massive whirlpool in the center of the city. Literally resembling a snaking tube of water with reptilian features, Perfect Chaos took the form of a massive leviathan. It's toothy dragon maw opened wide to unleash a mighty bellow, followed by an intensely-focused death laser that sweeped through the zig-zagging, criss-crossing water-tornados toward Asriel. "That's not going to work!" Asriel furrowed his brow, sounding even braver. His red eyes glowed with the combined effect of his Determination and the burning red eyes of his Super Form. As he moved, their glow lefted short, red light contrails that seemed to cut through the water droplets in the air. He was plowing through gallons upon gallons upon gallons of water, but he remained dry. "Here I come!" He challenged, boldly as he boosted and nearly turned into a golden bolt of lightning. Asriel coiled around the lengthy snake body of Perfect Chaos until he reached the neck and speared through the water mass and collided with the nebulous neon mass of nerves and electrical neurotransmitters with an explosive impact. Perfect Chaos wailed in pain as his brain lost cohesion and his body splattered into a huge mass of water. "That's one down, Azzy. Keep it up!" "Heh. If this is as tough as it gets, it'll be easy peasy!" "Not to sound like Buns but you know the lesson about being cocky and arrogant..." "You of all people are going to lecture me on that?" "Wouldn't be a responsible gal if I didn't bring it up." "Right. *chuckle* Responsible." Asriel jabbed back. "You're learing well. Maybe too well." Violet mused... Asriel landed on another stretch of broken street and sped off. "What the...!" Asriel noticed it. "Aunt Vi!" He protested. "What did you do?!" "Uh...surprise! It's the Generations version--" "What happened to Gen-6?" "Gotta keep you on your fluffy, goat toes." "Vi, stop talking about toes and get serious!" Asriel fumed as he strayed from the path and zip-zapped his way through the hovering dash rings, and up the zip-lines, into one of the broken, flooded skyscrapers . He sprung across spring boards and swung around flag poles and through hallways. "Whoah!" He felt the jet stream of water pierce through the walls, grazing his nose, moments before a second one pierced behind him. "Getting too hot...or rather too wet to handle." Asriel bust out through the window moments before another water jet exploded the room he just left. He tumbled through the ring tunnel and ran across the side of the building, continuing his path toward Perfect Chaos. A few more zips across broken streets and a ring tunnel and Asriel impacted the brain again. Another beastily wail and collapse. Asriel repeated again. That was when the music within the Simulation changed and so did the game itself. "Whoah! He's levitating the pieces of the street? Coool!" Asriel admired, channeling a moment of Generator Rex. He leaped across them all and dodged the lasers, water jets and water tentacles. He somersaulted through ring tunnels and backflipped off spring boards, swung from broken highway signs, and caught rides on zip-lines before he impacted again. "If this were real, I think I wouldn't need to shower for a few weeks!" "Man, Bunnie is going to yell at me if you start picking up bad habbits." "What? You worry? That's a good one, Aunt Vi." "Clock's still running." "Right. Focusing." Asriel dodged another barrage of attacks. He put on his final game face and tucked and rolled before his homing attack landing one final explosive crash upon Perfect Chaos' brain. WIth a massive release of water, like a barage of tidal waves crashing together at the same time, the massive boss was defeated. "Rest now, oh tortured soul. Your violent rage is over and your rampage ended--" "What the heck was that?" Violet's laughter interrupted. "What are you, a Paladin now? I think you got the genres mixed up, Goat Son." "I was...just trying to sound cool. I was in the moment." "I guess. RPG's and DnD study is way down the curriculum." Asriel landed on the street and reverted to normal. With that, the simulation dissolved away. "Well?" "It's a record, Cinnamon Roll. You're 5 whole seconds faster than last time. You got "Adventure DX" down pat. Want to try your luck at Adventure 2: Battle?" "And part of "Generations", don't forget. As for the A2B? Maybe another time, Vi. All things in moderation. Anyway. Ready to come out now." Violet entered the password. "Klaatu Barada Nikto." "Why do I get the feeling that password isn't as random a sci-fi reference as you're implying?" Violet just grinned. The door opened and Asriel stepped out of the chamber. "You keep this up and I'm going to start worrying as much as Volt." "Nah. That'll never happen. You're too much of a split difference between the Commander and Sally. Not too nervous and not too laid back. Pretty balanced." "Anyway..." Sub-Entry 022: "A Floppy Ear For Music": I decided to drop in on them to check up on their progress. I hesitated a moment before I entered. Sure enough another WWE superstar entrance theme. But I had to give Violet credit, this time around. The theme music of the Artist, Shinsuke Nakamura was a rather pleasant sound to be greeting by; strings and all. "You never change, Vi." By this time, Asriel had long since exited the official, standard holo-simulator room where we did our training. He and Violet had gone back to her sub-lab. I knew it wasn't a piano lesson day, so I wasn't really expecting band practice. But then I remembered that Violet got him that 1963 EB-Zero guitar for his birthday five years ago. Which mean Jon had to be nearby to coach him through lessons. Sure enough, Violet, Jon, and my little sister, Gadget were joined together in a band session. I really should put my foot down over unauthorized music practice in the sub-labs. "Big brother!" Gadget tacklehugged me. I of course hugged back. By now she no longer needed to stand on tippy-toes to do so. She had grown up a bit. In fact...that gave way to another worry. She had always been cute and adorable. But growing into a young woman, she crossed the line into beautiful, as far as Hybrids went. As her brother...I was already seeing my worries come to pass; if I noticed, so did the boys around her. While she had started hanging around young men--namely three Hybrid Mice who seemed to enjoy motorcycles...*shuddder*--Gadget assured me their relationship(s) were only platonic. There was no...*gulp*...d-dating going on. "Golly, I'm so glad you came to watch us practice!" Yup. She was still sweet, innocent, and air-headed yet mind-bashing-ly intelligent if not brilliant. She had tested into the genius range. Her skill with make-shifting had only gotten better, with fewer mistakes. "Howdy, Volt!" Asriel waved, shouldering his guitar. "Hey, Azzy. Violet behaving herself?" "What do you think?" He said slyly. "Well, let me ask another question. Am I going to have to punish her for being lewd, mischievious, or for unauthorized use of lab equipment?" "No on all accounts." I wasn't completely convinced but I was not about to question Asriel's word. Violet's? Definitely. "Ah, there's nothing going on here you need to be all sixes and sevens over." Jon's "English-English" was sometimes hard to make out. But y'know. "Really." I deadpanned. Need I remind everyone how easily Violet could bribe my son-in-law? He's covered her butt for more than his fair share of steaks, burgers, and prime rib. "I'm not telling pork pies and a bag of trout." Yeah...this was sounding a little like the script to the third Austin Powers movie. By this point it was just a waste of my efforts to drill into this further. So I dropped it. "Okay, what's on the playlist today?" I folded my arms. "I thought I'd start off with Sword of Justice." Sword of Justice? The Main Theme from Devil's Crush? Not that I objected, but wasn't that a bit of advanced piece for Azzy and Gadget to tackle? Plus it was the soundtrack to what I described as "Satanic Pinbal". Now I loved pinball. But some of them had themes that I couldn't imagine Gadget would be comfortable around. Devil's Crush had necromancers dancing around pentagrams, undulating demon guts, a laughing skull, and a maiden wearing a crown-helmet that slowly mutated into a dragon-beast. But it was damn good pinball with a damn good soundtrack. I could have voiced my concerns but...I let them slide and decided to give them encouragement. "Okay then." And with that, Jon started the piece off with that triple burst of "falling guitar riffs" before the rest of the group dove right in. Violet on keyboards, Gadget on drums, and Jon falling back to backup guitar. Which left Azzy to solo most of the piece. Asriel had a fair amount of talent with the guitar a half decade ago. I was amazed how far Jon had managed to mold his skills. But what was impressing me was that he was playing completely by ear. Had he memorized every note of Sword of Justice? This was perhaps the best heavy metal version I had heard the theme. My family and friends here had one job...and they NAILED it to the wall. Azzy was ripping axe. Violet tickled the ivories. Jon was slaying it, too. Gadget was just thundering those cannons. When they finished... "Whoah." "Were we good?" Gadget asked. "You were smokin'!" "Golly, I hope not. Nermal says nicotine is bad for your lungs." We all laughed. Oh, Gadget. By being a ditz, sometimes you could be the most clever person in the room. It was actually nice to spend time in Violet's personal sub-lab when she wasn't stacking video game/movie/TV/comic references upon each other in a barrage that could be considered a montage. "Keep up the good work, you guys." I had certainly spent a lot more time with Gadget in the last five years. It felt good to support her. When I couldn't be around, she bonded with Asriel and Pit. Mitzi occasionally joined in. I did notice there was one person who wasn't around Gadget as of late. "So...Gyro?" "Uncle Gyro had to go back to Kaeleron. Mr. McDuck hired him back--" Ah yes. The unspoken richest duck in the world. I'd heard he hired Launchpad McQuack once again, which must've meant his tour of duty in St. Canard had to be over. That said, I guess we were down a tech. Well...we'd fix that down the road. "So. What have we got on the list for the next song?" Jon asked. Asriel picked up, of all things, a saxophone. "I was thinking Zombie Panic." In that moment I think I felt my pride just absolutely surge. I had only given him a few lessons on the basics a while ago. Yet, he self-taught in five years what I had learned in what seemed like twice that long. "Good man." I nodded. I knew the song. A long while ago, in the early 90's, a game made by LucasArts Games had brought a quirky little top-down search-and-destroy shooter, originally under the working title "Monsters!" to the generation 4 console of the big N. But we came to know it by the name "Zombies Ate My Neighbors". As an ex-monster, Azzy surprised me that he considered it "silly comedy" rather than actually offensive to the monster species. And the music continued, Asriel surprising me with his versatility over various music instruments. Vi even let him have a turn at the keyboards. After the jam session was done Azzy had to bid fairwell. The day of his birthday was getting closer and I had to wonder when we were going to start helping him practice for his driver's test? If you haven't figured it out yet...this was its own stack of worries for me. Sub-Entry 023: "Guilty Pleasure or Old Worries" "Got to get that fixed..." I had to physically shove open the doors. I know it had only been five years, but had this secret little room of mine really degraded that far? Cobwebs. Dust. No power. Yeah. I de-energized it shortly after I was "dismissed" from S.T.C. I figured it was no longer updating now that my connection to A.E.O.N. had been severed. But little did I know it had one last refresh before it was powered down. Thact came to my attention after checking unread app messages on my T.A.O. link after waaaay too long. "I'm going to make a habit to never abandon parts of the lab like this again." I found the main breaker and the supporting breakers and got the power back on. I let the mainframe boot, dusted off my chair and had a seat. Since it had only one update to my image of the Axis of Reality, it couldn't possibly have logged that many AU's. Violet would joke that if this was a fan community, it would probably have started dying off a year after being discovered. That's the fickleness of people. Go figure. Wait...I'm letting Violet get me off topic and pondering hypothetical matters again. "Okay. Let's see what we'll--" My jaw dropped. "Oh. My. God." In one update...one five-year-old update...did the AU's really multiply by this much? If that was the old update...I wonder what a fresh one would look like if A.E.O.N. suddenly came back up? "Good lord..." So...what was that I was just thinking about dying fanbases? Eheheheh... Oh, the core realities were still there. UTPR-000 (Prime/Classic), USPR-001 (Underswap), and UFPR-013 (Underfell). As well as the flip-side doppleganger dimensions such as SFRP-026 (SwapFell), SSPR-050 (StorySwap), SSPR-0090 (StoryShift), SSPR-0360 (StorySpin), etc. The Classic spinoffs were there. UTPR-002 (UpperTale). OTPR-1000 (OverTale). ATPR-2015 (AfterTale). OTPR-009 (OuterTale). ITPR-111 (Ink!Tale). DTPR-484 (DreamTale) FFPR-221 (FlowerFell). RTPR-300 (ReaperTale) UFPR-1999 (UnderFresh). MTPR-1930 (MobTale). There were the ones that I wasn't sure how to group them together. ADR-015 (A Dreemurr Reborn), AFAC-009 (Ask Frisk and Company), SOF-011 (Seed of Flowey), LOTFK-075 (Legend of the Fallen Knight), OLC-100 (One Last Chance). D!PR-400 (Disbelief). And the alternatives were there. G!PR-!!! (Gaster!Tale), MTPR-033 (Mob Tale), HTPR-666 (HorrorTale), BTPR-9001 (BurstTale). ETPR-321 (EnderTale), GTPR-555 (GlitchTale), ETPR-7322 (EchoTale), CTPR-1212 (ChessTale), ETPR-??? (ErrorTale)... What were these new ones? IFPR-4321 (InvertedFate)...? UTPR-1111 (UltraTale)...? CTPR-724 CareTaker)...? (QuantumTale)...? NTPR-Minus (NegaTale) , PTPR-Plus (PosiTale), ATPR-535 (AlterTale), ASPR-353 (AlterSwap), XTPR-XXX (XTale), TDB-815 (The Dreemurr Brothers), CT-333 (CandyTale), UTPR 6969 (UnderLust), MFPR-0033 (MemoryFell), OT-222 (OceanTale), ATPR-359 (AsylumTale), UHPR-666 (UnderHell) ATPR-999 (ApocolpyseTale), STPR-1889 (SteamTale), and so on and so on. And of course the ones that made me wonder if the AU's were getting out of hand. SBTPR-023 (SpongebobTale) KTPR-1985 (KoopaTale) SUPR-121 (GemTale) RTPR-201X (RegularTale), TTPR-150 (TrainerTale), PTPR-151 (PokeTale)...oh boy. "I think I regret my decision." I let my forehead drop upon the keyboard with an unsoundly computer warning beep. I got a hold of myself and rubbed my eyelids. "Well. Let's try to get some order back to this." I immediately decided to go back to mainstream after the last time I had done this. DooDoo Butt/Legendary Fartmaster was the focus of the first one of these. Then the Temmies. I think it only fair to take a good look and analyze the person who was on my mind the most...okay so she was tied with Alphys. Don't roll your eyes. She won the coin toss the last time I palnned to do this. So. You can probably already follow this format so I give you the table of Goat Moms. UTPR-000: Toriel Dreemurr Prime - Classic Goat Mom is gentle and kind but hides a deeply meloncholy regret that grows stronger with each and every fallen child. Tori has wanted to be a mother and a school teacher for all her life. It wasn't fair that the timeline took away every single child that's been in her care, save for Frisk. Baker of intimidating-sized Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pies. Snail affecienado. Secret lover of puns. Even has her own sock collection in a drawer...scandalous! It's rather strange I never bothered to look into her diary to see what was so special about that picture of her from long ago. What? Was she a punk flipping the bird or something? I digress. Classic Toriel. The original. I was really missing her. USPR-001: UnderSwap Toriel Dreemurr AKA the Queen - The first AU incarnation of Toriel isn't that different in personality but unlike her prime counterpart, she did the deeds that caused Asgore to become estranged. Six fallen human child souls on her conscience. One thing hasn't changed. There's still a connection to her and Sans. Only in this case this giddy, hardworking Blueberry dreams of being much more than friends with her, yet is held back by his unwavering duty. But before I stray too far off topic, Queen Toriel is no less meloncholic than her Prime counterpart. She's just weighed down by her sins rather than her feeling of being powerless. UFPR-001: UnderFell Toriel. Torn robes, bloodshot red eyes, and a broken moral code. She's burned a much-different Flowey over and over just for the fun of it. If Tori Prime heralds unhealthy relationships with the fallen children she keeps replacing her son and adopted offspring with, then this one's downright toxic. Even when being spared she sees it as nothing more than a deceitful trick in order to get her to lower her guard. If it's possible to make her feel genuinely loved, it's not my place to devise such a method. That's up to the Frisk that falls into this AU. HTPR-666: HorrorTale Toriel - Baking poisoned pies and injecting Eliza with hallucinogenic drugs. She wont' hesitate to burn her child to cinders without regret or convince a certain skeleton with a hole torn out of his skull to impale her on bloody bone spines. Ravenous, quick to slay Flowey and enjoy every second of it, and maintaining a very paper thin veil of motherhood. I really hope I never meet this one face to face. Why this one should be spared is beyond me. But such is the life of a pacifist...even one scared for her very life and just trying to survive at every cost. SSPR-090: StoryShift Toriel - As head of the Royal Guard, she treats her go-getter son, Asriel, with no preferential treatment but still loves him and Chara dearly. Her grudge against the Royal Scientist, Asgore continues; paralleling her Prime counterpart's great disdain for her former king. Under her sense of warrior's duty is still the warm-hearted goat mom that seems to echo through a lot of AU's. LTPR-0004: LittleTale Toriel - Tori was a cutie as a smol! Hanging around a pint-sized Asgore (beardless and shy) as well as mini versions of all the other boss monsters, she's pretty much Prime. Only younger and smaller. And several times more adorable! MTPR-1930: MobTale Toriel: The former boss to notorious gangsters, Sans and Papyrus and ex-spouse of kingpin, Mr. Dreemurr. Kind-hearted and caring but still filled with deep regret over the loss of her children and deep contempt for Asgore. She quickly switches modes to Mom Mode to spot the very poor state that "Little Pup" is in and even quicker to boss mode to make sure Papyrus corrects it without fail. While Sans is less intimidated by her he still holds a great deal of respect for her; though it's clear he, too doesn't like agreeing to promises. A no-nonsense former mom who doesn't even break a sweat when marching into the office of her ex to voice her...displeasure. ULPR-6969: UnderLust Toriel......umm...no. This entry is forbidden. RTPR-300: ReaperTale Toriel AKA "Life" - Literally the Goddess of Life and Creation. She has isolated herself from the world in a secret garden cove. By chance, Death (Sans) discovers her lair in pursuit of "a little yellow murderflower". Initially, Life's reception to Death is absolute contempt if not hatred; it makes sense that polar opposites should be like oil and water. But stop me if you've heard this one...polar opposites grow from enemies to friends to...maybe something more? Unfortunately the tragedy of this timeline is that nothing lasts for ever...not even Life. It's the parallels to Prime that are so ungodly tragic; the Age of Corruption is nothing to take lightly. ATPR-361: AlterTale Toriel - A lazy-ish version of Tori in a parka? Why not. I have the feeling any role in the Undertale part of the InfinityVerse can be switched around. With a chill demeanor, this Toriel serves as the conscience, shadowing the human while her brother, Asgore is a high-energy replacement for Papyrus. ASPR-361: AlterSwap Toriel - And we flip the script 180 degrees for Tori in a battle body while Asgore shuffles around in a hoodie while nibbling a stick of Pocky. Why not? In a different AU this role is held onto by Chara and in another by Asriel. By this point I could probably go on and on, but it was probably better to make my notes, bookmark my observations, and come back to this at another time when I was prepared for this. Oh well. "Ever expanding..." I muttered "Heh. Part of me hopes it never stops." I got up, turned everything off and turned off thel lights before closing the door. "...still need to get that fixed..." Sub-Entry 024: "Rabbotou Dojo's Star Pupil": "...how long have they been going, Mitzi?" "They've been sparring for far longer than the time limit. Asriel's reached the quota for passing a while ago." "You've astounded me with yoru progress, Asriel-san. Far greater than I could have ever dreamed." "I'm not about to disappoint you, sensei. Not when I've come all this way." Asriel ducked the attack and countered with a roundhouse kick. It was countered and met with another combo. So far not a single direct hit had landed from neither student nor master. "You need not worry about such a thing. Your dedication is as strong as ever. Even if you fail a dan rank test, your effort is a clear indicator of your excellence, thus far. I have taught you everything you know." Bunnie attempted to throw her opponent, but Asriel reversed it into a backflip. He recovered and landed and continued the battle as well as the conversation. "I know, sensei. But you haven't taught me everything YOU know. There is so much more. I can sense it. Yet, I also understand that I have to grow into those things if you decide I'm ready for them. " "Such insight is rare among my students. Your patience is not only reassuring, it's inspiring." "Inspiring goes hand in hand with leading by example. You want to change minds in order to change the world, you change people's thinking. Not by forcing them to adhere to your beliefs, but impressing them with yoru conviction. Let them choose their path by their own choice. But give them your best motivation to see things your way. If they agree with you and choose to follow your example, that's good. If they do not, then let them follow the current of the river they've picked. Life will show them if they choose wisely." "Very impressive." Bunnie mused as Asriel blocked her punch then caught the other attack and managed to spin her off balance in a modified lift-flip. Bunnie found herself pulled into a rolling twist-spin in mid-air for a moment before executing a recovery. "You nearly caught me off guard with that one. Your proficiency with other martial arts continues to rise." "It's no easy task learning kung fu, savate and jeet kun do at the same time, sensei. I feel...overwhelmed at times. Vastly overwhelmed. Was this how it was for you?" "Do not be taken aback by the size of the mountain. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Slow and steady. Each part of the journey is its own discovery and its own challenge to master." Bunnie's leg sweep can fast. The ring of candles around the fight area continued to burn; yet the shockwave of Bunnie's kick caused a small arc portion of the flames to bend backward, threatening to extinguish them. She set the bar high on this one. A single candle flame snuffed meant...! Another barrage of blows. Asriel skidded backward. The edge of his heel stopped an inch away from a candle as he dug in his toes to stop his motion. Still not a direct hit. A jump, a twist, a tuck and a roll, followed by a punch to the ground, releasing a shockwave. "Rrrgh!" Bunnie stumbled a little, her own heel stopping shy of a drop of wax that had just run down the side of the candle. The candles had certainly burned down pretty low, so the clock was running out. If they went out on their own before a victory was secured, it would end in a draw and the test would have to be retaken another day. Asriel's opponent charged back in at the same time he charged. This exhange of blows was too fast for me to see what happened. "Ngh..." Asriel dropped to a knee. "Do not tell me you are going to fall, my student..." Bunnie began. "...not when you...!" She began to falter...then collapsed forward, the shockwave snuffing a large number of candles. "Mnn..." Asriel grimmaced, a look of dissatisfaction in his eyes. It wasn't because of his victory. No, it was because in that brief moment he felt regret for felling his teacher. "Asriel-san." Megami broke her silence. Then she spoke in Jangese. Nikita was on hand to translate. "Do not grieve. She will be okay. A sensei is prepared for the instance they may be incapacitated, even in a spar. Even during a test. You have passed." "And remember what you were taught, Asriel." Mitzi spoke up. Asriel glanced down for only a moment before responding with... "It's nothing that can't be fixed with an apology and a first-aid kit." He looked up, a stoic look in his eyes. A bit later, once Megami had cleaned up the candles and Bunnie regained consciousness. "Asriel-san. Words cannot express how proud I am of you this day. There is no greater joy a teacher can experience than when their student surpasses them." Bunnie and Asriel exchanged a bow. "Congratulations, Asriel-kun. You have earned your second degree dan rank." Megami awarded the white stripes. Asriel accepted with both hands and bowed his head. "Arigato." He took only a moment to apply them to the ends of his black belt, making a total of two white stripes on each end. Had he really made THIS much progress in five years? "Don't feel bad, Asriel. I was pretty shaken up when I K.O.'ed sensei for the first time." Mitzi smiled. "I ended up giving her a black eye." "Heh." Asriel's look of conflict dissolved into a look of reassurance. "Class is dismissed for today. Go, my students and practice what you've learned." Bunnie bowed, all of her students returning the gesture of respect. And then their silence was broken into cheers and a very large amount of clamour and praise for Asriel. "His powers grow every day." I observed. "Volt-san." Bunnie's stern voice was rather unexpected. "..." I'd become that easy to read? "Do not be clouded by Violet's incessant need to make allusions to those Star Wars movies." Was I really seeing the duality of the Skywalker father and son dynamic? "There is no prophecy building him up to a savior destiny or a tragic fall into betrayal for him. Just an unwritten futute in which he holds the pen. Do not feel the need to see additional weight of the world on his shoulders. He doesn't know what he's expected to do with his life any more than we do." "Bunnie...worrying is what I do." "I know, Commander. I know all too well." Bunnie looked over her shoulder at the celebrity her student had become. "He's my star pupil...of this generation." "As Mitzi was of the previous one?" "Yes." "So...I guess you've unofficially chosen your successor's successor?" "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Commander." "That wasn't a no." "I suppose it was not." Bunnie and I looked on while Asriel, albeit overhelmed with the embarassement of being kinda famous, continued to maintain his humility. As Asgore had put it: today is a good day. Sub-Entry 025: "Happy Birthday, Lisa": August 29th had crept up on me again. In all the years I had been married to her, I had never neglected my lovely wife. I was not about to start now. Luckily I had begun planning ahead in between my duties as UCIAT Co-Commander and my bro-time with Asriel. Far ahead, in fact. A good thing, too, as summer proved to have a lot more ups and downs and things to keep me on my toes than I had anticipated. A good husband however doesn't let that deter him. The day was here and I was going to make it perfect. Asriel decided to give us our alone time and chose to hang out with Pit. Bunnie "convinced" Violet not to meddle or "enhance" our dating experience. I can only imagine how much a rabbit's ear hurts when being grabbed and used to drag them away from the area. To open things up...there's no greater joy than to feign slumber when the first thing the love of your life sees when she opens her eyes is an open box containing her wedding ring...and the newly upgraded diamond and setting on it. You just have to top off the moment with: "Happy birthday, Lisa." whispered in her pointy werewolf ear. Now granted this probably would have made a better ANNIVERSARY gift buuuuut...I wanted to lead off strong. "Neil...!" She turned toward me with eyes full of tears. She wrapped her arms around me and graced me with the universal lycan sign of affection--licking my cheek. Hey. Dogs and wolves do it. It's perfectly natural for werewolves......and in this case very romantic. I returned the licks. "Is this a good day?" "It's a perfect opener." Lately, since my work load at the shop had been lite, I'd afforded the luxury of returning home to Lisa's and my summer residence in town (It sure beat our one-person room quarters in the residential floors of UCIAT Headquaretsr). So Lisa didn't question it or find it odd that I didn't fall asleep at my workbench or just flop down on my cot in the back room of my shop. "Then let me treat you to the NEXT phase of Operation: Lisa's Day." "Next...?" She mused slyly. That was about the time our daughters entered with a breakfast tray. "Breakfast in bed? Oh you sly old dog." "Heeey." I liteheartedly protested the dog remark. "You know what I mean." Lisa was one in 8 billion. She could go from as reserved and introvert as me to as outgoing and giddy as Gadget pretty quick. Adaptable. I liked that about her. From a love of Weird Al Yankovic to a passion for Harry Potter books to being a hardcore anime and toku....tokusa....uhhh....rubber-suited Jangese action shows, she was the total package of what I liked to see in a she-wolf who was proud to call herself a nerd...just as I was proud to call myself one. Now if I could just get Violet to stop poking fun at her naturally blue hair and blue fur. Yeah. Having your own waifu who stepped off the pages of an anime to call your lawfully-wedded wife was truly something. Our alarm clock radio was still going off. I had set it for music, and tuned it to a station the both of us would appreciate. At the time "Rise Up" by B.E.R. was playing. I remember the first time I heard this song. It was the day I propsed to Lisa. While this wasn't our song (That honor goes to "You Make Me" by Weird Al Yankovic)...it became just as special. How I remember... ~~~~~~~~~ We we both younger; eyes full of optimism and eager to charge headfirst into the world. I gave her the ring, while bended on one knee. When she said yes, I stood up and placed the ring on her finger. Without warning, she tacklehugged me and planted a big wet one on lips and more around my muzzle. Not to be outdone, I suddenly lifted her up to the sky, balancing her like a figure-skating duo. She spread her arms out, pretending to fly. Her laughter was bright and jubilant as I only added to it by singing along to the music on the radio. "See the world...while you're young and beautiful! Come with me...build a dream...life is here for us to see. Feel anew, all in tune...the melody shines over you. Let the music make your morning groove. Saaaaay the words! Rise up, come on and go with me! Saaaaay the words! And feel the wave of the energy! Rise up! Rise up! Feel the wave of the energy! Rise up! Rise up! Say the words that'll set you free!..with the beat that makes your body move!" If ever there had been a more perfect way to bring it all home. I wished I had put this song into my wedding vows but...I did alright, all things considering. It was about that time that we'd be jarred back to reality... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Happy birthday, mom!" Elektra offered the tray and a wonderful full course breakfast. "May your day be pleasant and joyful." Stephanie gave a formal bow, in the style of her rolemodel, Bunnie. "Well, eat up so you can get to the red hot lovin'." Oh, Penelope. It's too early for you to be doing your impression of Violet. "C'mon! Lock it up!" She grinned and made kissing noises. "Sis, that's not appropriate!" Stephie protested. "Now, now. Let's let mom and dad have their privacy. "Good idea." "Aww. It didn't even get hot and steamy!" "Really, Penny?" "Elektra! I hate that nickname." "Well you didn't like "Nell" much either." "Come on, big sister. Let's not pick on Penelope." "There you go again, being all goody-two-shoes. Spice it up, girrrrrl!" Penelope quipped as Elektra shoed them out so we could have our morning time. "This is pretty all-right, isn't it?" Lisa smiled as I picked up a strawberry and offered to feed it to her. "All for you, dear." I traced it around her lips and playfully taunted the strawberry around her nose. *chomp* "Easy there, love. I do like my fingers." We made this marriage work, even after my immortality. I offered the same to the rest of my family but...all of them chose to remain mortal. I know what that will entail some day...but let's not think about that. I could go back and forth between this wonderful slice of the past and the other time periods as much as I needed without screwing up Miranda's timeline. Somehow it defied the laws of chronology. I didn't care. "You know...Penelope did bring up a good point..." "Oh, Lisa..." Suffice to say, I'll be fast-forwarding through this part. Hey. We're entitled to our privacy! At the risk of fourth-walling (and quoting the Count of Monte Cristo)...find your own tree! Later that day... Both of us having taken personal days off for some "we" time, we spent our day together in a number of activities ranging from childish fun at a local fair with rides and midway games...to teenage, catching a movie at one of the last drive-in theaters in the known country. (Yes, those still exist. Doesn't that make me feel old?) To mature and adult with a nice, fancy dinner at a high-class restaurant. I...put asside my discomfort for formal attire. I suppose it was fitting that "Forever Mine" by B.E.R. came on the 57' Chevy's stereo at some point. A nice love song. Hmm...two songs by B.E.R. in one entry...just coincidence. When we got home it was...late but not ridiculously late. We were past the ages where our children would worry. They knew how this worked and if need be could fend for themselves if we stayed out later. "Happy birthday, again, sweetie." I kissed her as we both turned in for the night. Not once did I bring up her age. For one thing it's rude to comment on that in your personal logs, even if your wife never reads them. For another...I didn't need the reminder of how much time had gone by.....or how much was probably left. Years. Decades. A century or more. Werewolf longevity was impressive...but still limited. Again, the worrywort in me is taking over. But for all things, considered...moments like this overshadowed that worry and filled me with happiness. I'm sure Lisa felt the same. "This was the best one yet, Neil." She was still one of the few I let address me by my real name. She called me Volt when in public, just as a courtessey but I'm getting off topic. What a wonderful day I had made for her. I guess it'd be her turn when November rolled around. I wonder if Asgore and Toriel had anything this special in their before times? Sub-Entry 026: "Labor Day, the Last Hurrah of Summer": September 4th was here before I knew it. This was both happy and depressing at the same time. Depressing because my favorite season of the year was about to die and fade into Autumn. Happy because it meant Labor Day. The day when you celebrated the hard work by taking a day off work. Watching what I considered a mini-preview of the Thanksgiving Day parade in the form of the Labor Day Parade; a lot of floats, schools showing off their marching bands and extracurricular activities, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts on the march, various businesses and various non-profit organizations proudly showing off their displays and attractions, a celebration of armed force, Shriners in tiny cars, clowns juggling, people on unicycles and old-timey bicycles, and more. Then there was the arts and crafts gathering in the square as well as the food stands, the car show, and activities for kids. Sometimes even a bouncy-castle. But of course the thing that Jon and I agreed on? Cookouts. It opened up like any other day. In my haste I had left my Elec Man alarm clock set; this wasn't the original one, which I gave to Asriel, this was a new one I had constructed. Nevertheless, the alarm went off and I had started to make prep to head in when Asriel arrived at my door. "Azzy? Shouldn't you be headed to school--" "Volt! Did you forget what day it is?" "Day? It's--" I turned to the calendar. "Oh!" My eyes lit up. I of course got prepped quickly and headed out the door with Asriel. We'd just make it by the skin of our teeth. And there it was, going through the main streets. This year's Labor Day parade. As I had described before; the usual array of floats and marching bands, shriners and clowns, and everything else that went with. We saw a few familiar characters. From a curiously white beagle atop its doghouse with World War 1 flight goggles and scarf to a yellow, rectangular sponge that lived in a pineapple under the sea. Yeah. Kiddy stuff. What had also garnered our attention were the various Scout Troops and YMCA/YWCA sponsored groups--formerly called "Indian Guides" and "Indian Princesses". It had another name now but I guess someone thought they had to be a little more PC toward native minorities. For five years, Scott and Callista had let Asriel be a part of a Scout Troop. None of us were prepared for how quickly he earned his badges and rose though the ranks. When he completed our world's equivalent of "Eagle Rank", he completed his community project and left it all behind to make room for more responsibilities--academic or otherwise. "Brings back memories, huh?" "I'll probably show up for reunions and keep informed through newsletters and homepages." "It was time to move on, huh?" "Yeah." Of course our Queen, the royal family, and other important positions in the kingdom had to make an appearance in a motorcade. Honestly, I don't know if such a thing was Brooke's style. It was hard to read her; if she was making a public appearance by choice or under protest. Azzy would probably tell me it was the former. Violet would say the latter. Bunnie would tell me it wouldn't matter either way--a monarch's duty was to her people and therefore must always be a symbol representing the greatness of our fair kingdom...or something like that. There were the marching bands from various school districts. I'm sure Jennifer "Valkyrie" Riviera's school was represented somewhere. You know, it never occured to me what grade level she taught. I knew that many modern schools nowadays started music and arts programs as early as 4th or 5th grade so...it was possible. Speaking of which, this brought back memories of my own. While growing up in Neo Arcadia City, between the bridge from Elementary to Junior High (I still refused to call it "middle school") and Junior High to HIgh School, I had my own experience with band practice and being in the marching band. Try to imagine a werewolf in a marching uniform. I didn't mind that the uniform was hot and cumbersome...what I did mind was that it meant wearing marching shoes. I think I've pretty much hammered into the ground the plight of werewolf feet in my earlier personal log entries of the first assignment. "Heh." I could go on with what else the parade entailed but that would cut into the rest of the activities of the day. So I'm just going to end with-- "It ain't over til..." Violet cackled and pointed at the morbidly obeise opera singer shrieking at the top of her lungs in our world's equivalent of the German language. "...the fat lady sings." Jon finished just before popping the rest of his snack into his mouth. "That was good for an appetizer. When do we get to the main course?" "Jon, you were finishing your breakfast on the fly as the parade was starting and you spent all of it snacking on concession stand goodies." I protested. "I'm a growing werewolf." He licked his lips. "I'm not going to hear you whine when Elektra puts you on another diet. She'll have Velaska to enforce it, you know." We packed up our lawn chairs and/or blankets/quilts and dropped our gear off at our homes before moving it to the square and surrounding area where the car show and the arts and crafts festival was set up. Violet promised an extra special spread for the evening cookout. As luck would have it, tonight was a lunar cycle. So that made the day a complete grand slam. Off to the car show. By now, under Uncle Ed's mentoring, Asriel and I were both getting to be car-savy; especially to the classics. I just couldn't get enough of my favorite car, the good old classic 1957 Chevy Bellaire. "And this one?" I prompted as Asriel filmed with his video camera. "Umm....69' Charger?" "Good!" He took a few still shots and got some action footage with me and the others being candid around the cars. "And what's this one?" "Hmm...1963 Corvette Stingray!" "That's 10 for 10, Azzy. You've got this wired." At the same time, Lupe and Bunnie were perusing the craft stands. "Oooh! That looks lovely." "Indeed it does, Lupe." "And all natural." From homemade dolls to various forms of art to clothing, they found it all. Lupe tried on a pair of leather sandals. "What do you think?" "They're very you, Lupe." "They would be better suited to my work in the garden." At the same time, Violet and Sally sat in at at the stage where a live band was playing. "You know what I always say about music, Violet?" "Music expresses what can't be put into words and can't remain silent?" "Damn right!" Which of course left Rotor and Jon to hit the various food and concession stands. "What do you think? Smoked beef brisket? Prime rib?" "How about something sea food? Maybe a clam bake or some fried shrimp?" While Gadget and Pit enjoyed all the games and activities. "I had no idea that such mortal constructs could be so much fun! What do you call them again, Gadget?" "Bouncy castles!" "A castle that you can bounce in? What innovation!" We all found our little niches among the various activities. As the day faded into dusk and from dusk to nightfall... “We’ve certainly enjoyed our time goofing off and getting our chillax on.” It no longer sounded strange when Asriel used slang or street buzzwords. “They call retirement the golden years.” I laid back in my lawn chair and gazed up at the full moon. “You’ve got a loooong way until then. For humans the average is around 65 but...Hybrids tend to retire when they darn well feel like it and not a day before.” “Heh. Maybe when that time comes I’ll never retire from...well...whatever I end up doing.” “That sounds just like you, Azzy. Born to overachieve?” “And build dreams.” He took a moment to reflect on the Rabbotou Logo on his jacket. “...while living them.” I looked off into the night sky. “As a kid I used to believe my dreams would all come true. As a young man I used to hear people talk about missed opportunities and started to worry that I’d outlive my dreams...that one day I’d wake up and they’d all be dead and buried.” “Volt...” “Then at some point I worried my dreams might outlive me as I said goodbye to my mentor at the Institute For Future Technology.” “Doc Brown.” Asriel acknowledged. “....I didn’t know how long lycanthropes lived so...I started worrying that every day could be my last and my dreams would just...go on without me, picked up by some other generation. Then came the Genie’s Lamp and Pandora’s Box....well...” Asriel looked at me with a concerned look. “Sorry to bring the mood down like that. Even on a day off I just can’t lock my worries and cares in a box and forget about them.” “Well, if you’re going to be that way, best friend...” He started, a bit smugly. “Then I guess there’s no point to this very big steak that Jon just cooked for you.” “Now let’s not be hasty...” I changed my tune quick, feeling myself start to drool. “No doomsaying the rest of the night. We have a deal?” “You drive a hard bargain. But yeah...deal.” I accepted the plate and utensils. “You’re too optimistic, you know?” “I had 100 years to be without hope and dreams. I think that’s past me now.” “Maybe...but you should still keep your guard up.” “I know. That’s why I’m still training, right? To be ready for the next threat should it come?” I nodded. “Even if it never comes.” But I knew that was wishful thinking. “It’s like sensei says. For the truly optimistic, dreams are forever.” If it seemed like that saying came out of nowhere to replace “hope never walks alone”, I was sure that there would come a time down the road where this new saying would be explained. I finished my steak and soon joined the other lycans who’d gathered. It was fortunate that it was a lunar cycle again this night. With that we all joined in a chorus of baying at the moon. On a dare Asriel tried his luck at it, despite not being a werewolf. After a few...attempts he just shrugged and bleated, instead. Ah well. He was part of the group. Sub-Entry 027: "Happy Sweet 16th, Asriel": September 15th rolled around sooner than I thought possible. Just shy of a week after celebrating Pit’s honorary date of birth (or rather the anniversary of the founding of the N-Division and the arrival of Videoland’s Game Master, Kevin Keene). Here we were. The big day. Asriel was now out of his early teens and into his late teens, having crossed the half-point of 15. Yeah, I'm not counting the additional 100 years. If I was smart and considerate I wouldn't regard them from here on out. Let the past stay dead. Okay. Moving off of the tangent. Sweet sixteen. I wonder who coined the term? As far back as the early parts of the 20th century, teenagers waited for the they they were legally able to acquire a license to drive. Of course Asriel was no different. Just a little more patient and conservative about it. I didn't mind and I'm sure it took a lot off his parents' minds as well. We hosted the festivities at Rabbotou Dojo, mostly in its activity centers and gymnasiums. "You guys are the best." "An age-appropriate party like you requested." "With NO clowns." Violet wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms. Laughter. "Yes, we all know how much I hate clowns." Asriel replied slyly, rolling his eyes toward Violet, just shy of awesome-facing. Admit it, Chara. You were smirkling somewhere in the Soul Society, too. Even more laughter. A growl from Violet. Don't try to save face on this one. "Well. This is your day. When you think about it...you're just two years away from being a legal adult." I rubbed the back of my head. "Volt...I can tell when you're meloncholic about things. You're already worried that the dynamic of our friendship will change. It didn't in five years, it's not going to in another five or even ten. It'll just...scale up. Like it already has." "I know it's just that--" "It's a hard thing for an immortal to wrap his head around...seeing friends grow from children to teens to adults...and......well...let's not think about that. I nodded. I was getting all depressed about permanent ends to temporary lives. Repeating a cycle that I had already experienced on other world during other missions. "Asriel-san is right. This is his day and it's a time for joy and celebration." It turned out to be a pretty cool party. Grown up but not an adult party. Sally agreed to D.J. "This party is off da' chain, isn't it?" Violet got down and got funky as Sally spun the tables. I had a chance to really let it sink in as I shied away from the all the social activity. Yup. I was still an introvert underneath it all. I didn't do well in large crowds. Who'd have thought this many people would show up to Azzy's birthday? But I digress. One-hundred and sixteen years. Asriel had lived through more than a couple generations; at least by human standards. Granted most of that time was spent completely isolated from everyone and everything...but the point still stood. For a hybrid this seemed about the majority of a lifespan. By all technical means, Asriel stood to live to be at least double the Hybrid lifespan, if you counted the century he already lived. Yet there was no real way of predicting how long he would be around for. Why now of all times was I thinking about such things? Mitzi and Hestia made sure there was a good spread for the guests. Tacos, burritos, and the like. Plus burgers and hot dogs. Lastly, it wouldn't be complete without Rock-Afire Pizza. There was indoor basketball, dodgeball, and other activities. Anyone willing to stay up all night was welcome to bring sleeping bags for anime showings at a sleepover. THere was fun with Nerf gear such as foam dart guns and the like. A revisit of Lazer Tag (with a little less “EXTREME” from Vi’s Lazer Tag party 5 years ago), and other activities. By the end of the day, Azzy had amassed quite the collection of movies, games, and music as well as some cool clothes and practical things for high school, including the laptop that VIolet couldn't resist builiding from scratch and customizing for more than just school work. I had to wonder how powerful a gaming rig it probably was. “Did we do alright, kiddo?” “Oh yeah. You guys made my birthday absolutely rock.” Asriel gave a thumbs-up. It was reassuring to knock it right out of the ballpark. I knew Asriel wasn’t like most teens; I knew I wouldn’t be hearing whines of being embarassed or trying to get away with something like sneaking rice wine sake out of Bunnie’s cellar. Lastly, since he was still a cinnamon roll, I didn’t have to worry myself sick about “funny business” on a date; he was still too shy to talk to girls. He still hid his face behind his ears when girls flirted with him. Oh boy...how would I ever introduce Frisk to him? That kid was a flirting machine in pretty much every interation I’d recorded. We still whapped Vi for teasing him about that. Even though he was maturing and growing into that age of discovering the opposite gender, he’d grow into it when he was good and ready. Hey, if he chose to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life, who were we to judge? ...wow did I ever get off topic. “Volt, you know what’s next, don’t you?” “Yeah. Time for you to level up and earn your freedom on the road...” Sub-Entry 028: "Driver's Test": No pressure, right? I'd know quite a few people back in the day that didn't get their license on the first try. That damn maneuverability test was a real dream-breaker. Heck I made three attempts before I got mine at the age of 19. The weight of the world still must've felt like it was on Asriel's shoulders. Not for his own sake but he felt he could be far more useful if he could drive. The more he could do on his own, the less he felt guilty about relying on us for favors and such. Driving being one ove rthose things. For weeks, Asriel has been studying the driver's manual and attending driver's education. But that was just the written test and the rules of the road. In all this time, it occured to me that if I had been tied up with active duty as UCIAT co-commander and lab work, who was around to help Asriel actually practice in a vehicle? In parking lots and local roads? Yet... Asriel assured me that he had it covered and he was in good hands. "Don't be worry wort. I got this." He said with confidence as we entered the DMV. "Seriously, Az. Driving. I can't help BUT worry. Plus, you still haven't told me who you got to practice driving with." "I'll tell you later. I have to focus now." "If...you're sure." Was he this confident that he didn't need Scott and Callista to come with for support? Though they did say they'd catch up and be there for him after the test. Pass or fail they'd be ready and waiting. Asriel waited in line and soon he was issued his written test. He went off and had a seat and dove right in. Scott, Callie, and I got comfy. I wasn't that nervous at that point and I could tell Asriel wasn't nervous at all. Scott and Callie were...probably just a little nervous but not that much. The real nerves would come soon enough, provided Azzy got to the maneuverability test. Then if he passed that, he'd get to the road test. Suffice to say the road test scared me more, based on personal experiences. Yet I was crossing my fingers more for the maneuverability test. That was what held me back twice in my experience. Traffic cones...bane of my existence. Violet assured me that in another generation or two, this would be completely eliminated by cars that self-parked. I mean...she wasn't wrong. The technology was already there, just not mainstream yet. Before I had a chance to really let my worries run away with me, Asriel had already headed back up to turn in his test and await the results. To all of our relief, he got a perfect score. Scott silently patted his shoulder. Callie saved her affections for afterward. Even though, unlike most kids and teens, Azzy was pretty secure about public displays of affection; Callista still spared him from embarassing kisses on the cheek or hugs in pubic places. I just gave a thunbs up, staying silent. Maybe it was just the mundane atmosphere of the D.M.V. but I felt like making any sound at all would be short of making a scene. There'd be time for noise afterward. On to the maneuverability test. The yellow car with the conspicious "Student Driver" sign on top stood out like a sore thumb. Was I the only one who thought it resembled a taxi cab? Eh. Probably irrelevant. But still... Azzy of course ran through the proper steps as he met his instructor and got in the car. He buckled up and checked his mirrors. The maneuverability test consisted of the following steps: First, drive forward through a 9' by 20' box formed by four markers. Second, the examiner will direct the driver to steer to the right or the left of the center marker. And third, the driver is to steer straight ahead and stop when the rear bumper of the car is even with the center marker and generally parallel with the course. Hitting a cone is an instant fail. I watched the car move accordingly. Scott remained stonefaced. Callie covered her heart with both hands and held her breath. "Please let him get this..." I had blurted out. To our relief, he successfully navigated the test. "In one go..." I gasped. "You da' goat, Azzy!" Scott elbowed me to keep my voice down. Right. Don't distract the driver. Eheheh. From there on out we would have to play the waiting game as Asriel took to the road test. We got comfortable on a bench in front of the shopping center where the D.M.V. was located. It wasn't the same place I got my license, but the resemblence was beyond coincidence. As we waited. "So. Big day for goat son, huh?" "Yeah." "This is...gonna open up a lot of freedom for him." "Yeah." "We're all rooting for him." It seemed weird for Callie to use those words. It made me think of Sans. It felt like the longest of waiting games. We saw other road test vehicles come and go. Who knew that many people would be going for their license today? We saw some express the joy of passing. We also saw some express the disappointment of failing. And we saw one that at least some people would vow not to speak of as well as a potential day or two of work at the auto repair shop. To put it another way: "Uh-oh. Better get Macco." Wow, that's an old reference. Finally the car with Asriel pulled back in the parking lot, stopping at the pedestrian crosswalks before being brought in to a parking space. The instructor got out. Then Asriel. He was ominously quiet and his eyes were hidden under the shadow of his head fur bangs. "Better get ready to comfort..." Scott whispered. We headed over. "Hey...you did your best." Callie comfortred. "Mom...Dad...Volt..." Here it comes. We'd try again next-- "I PASSED!" He suddenly raised his head and we could see that sparkling starry-eyed expression and look of glee. Our cheers were brief as we hurried Azzy in to take care of the formalities and such. I have to say...Asriel probably got by far the best driver's license photo I'd ever seen. Lucky goat. My first one...nothing to speak of. We'd celebrate afterward but Asriel asked me to meet him some place first and asked permission to borrow a car. Violet provided RDI-001...but Azzy only agreed on the condition she left the A.I. navigator module out. In 5 years, she managed to get "Roadie" and "Wheels" up and working proper. This wasn't like a SIRI or a other GPS nav system. These A.I.'s were about on Null's level but within Neo Arcadia's strict regulations for artificial intelligence. "I'm really happy for you, Azzy, but why'd you want to meet at this Cyber Gate? Did you have a place off world you wanted to cruise around in?" "Something...to that effect." Asriel said slyly as we both buckled up. He entered the coordinates on the remote and opened the gate and we headed off world. "You know I really gotta know, Azzy. Who helped you practice driving? I've been meaning to but--" "I know, I know. Stuff." He shrugged, not really bugged by it. "Sally has, actually." "Sally?" That was a little surprising...but reassuring. Granted Sally was a known speed demon but no one practiced safety protocol and common sense more thoroughly than her. Sally Acorn was most assuredly a good choice for-- "..." We arrived on the world of Asriel's choosing at that moment. "Uhhh....Azzy?" I felt a little nervous as I saw the stunt course spread out in front of us. Part of it was most assuredly a police training course for practicing high-speed maneuverability driving. A second part looked like a testing track for vehicles off the assembly line...and the third...I recognized as an amalgamation of the tracks from the video world that was location of Stunt Drivin' and Race Drivin'. "Sally...and Ripper." Asriel said with a sheepish grin. "Ohhhh noooooo..." My eyes widened. We were already buckled up. It was a good thing because I did not have enough time to do so in the sudden burst of acceleration as Azzy hit the gas and let out a "WOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!" Did...I mention several entries ago that Asriel had gotten a lot more fearless? Sure enough, Goat Son tore off around the stunt course, weaving, zig-zagging, and drifting through the course without hitting a single obstacle. Once, successfully out of that course, he was already entering the speed track and turbo-boosting the car to holy crap velocity! "Asriellllllllll!" I folded me ears back and widened my eyes. "Awesome, right, Volt?" Asriel looked happy. If it wasn't already obvious...It had set in like an anvil dropped onto the skull. Azzy was holding back on his driver's test. His ace-ing it was inevitable. We hurled down the track like the Indiannapolis 500 a few laps before Asriel took to the stunt track. "Asriel, if you're making some kind of point, it's a point well made! You can take it down a notch any time!" "Aww come on, Volt! We got our responsibilities for the day done. Let's have some fun! I just want to show you what I can do!" "You don't have to show off for my sake!" At that moment the car went up the ramp and jumped the gap in the overpass track and landed on the other side. I think my heart skipped a beat...or several. "This is Chameleon's unspoken revenge on me, isn't it?!" I whined. "Oh, you're such a kidder, Volt." Azzy laughed as he speed up and headed toward the...oh no. Not the loop-de-loop. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed as I suddenly felt myself in the middle of the "19/2000" video by Gorillaz. I sure didn't feel like getting a cool shoe-shine at that moment. "Yeah! This is driving!" The car adhered to the track and continued its path, upside-down and back around to the other end. A few more hair-raising stunts around the course and Azzy brought the car in, doing a couple donuts before stopping. "Well? How'd I do?" "..." "Volt?" I'd later come to at a point Asriel had driven us back home though the Cyber Gate. "I guess I overdid it?" I made a pinching gesture to indicate "just a little". Not gonna lie...while I was feeling a bit traumatized...I was feeling way beyond proud as well. I have to wonder if the Underground would EVER be ready for the new, improved Asriel? Sub-Entry 029: "A.E.O.N. Lives Again": Meanwhile, all this time in the unknown and hidden place of KOMMMAND's nerve center... "You've been working non-stop, Violet." "Ah-ah-ah. Codenames, remember?" Mitzi sighed. "Right. KOMMAND." "Daimyou will have my head on a pike if I screw this up." "Really, Vi." "Okay, not really, but she won't be happy." KOMMAND kept working at her super-mainframe. "Okay, insert them as instructed." From her surveilance of on of the central hub satellite stations orbiting one of the central planets in A.E.O.N.'s core galaxy... "I read you, KOMMAND." Sally's image appeared. This "speed suit" was far beyond her days in OGPX. Sally, now going by the codename "LIGHTSPEED", raced up and down the massive techno-corridors to each processor node within the planet-wide maze of macro-circuitry. She dove into one of the access tunnels, tucked and rolled around in the network of pipes until she came to the rotating axis at the center of a giant, techno-matter, cyber-matrix structure that was its own futuristic take on the Tower of Babel. Sally opened the hatches and speeded through the process of inserting a number of transparent, glass wafers resembling microscope speciment slides, but narrowed into a shape like the long end of a house key on each end; into empty, reciprocating sockets. When she finished, it was like the glass memory slivers were functioning as pistons, moving in and out of their sleeves in a choreographed pattern. As they did, each one lit up with a maze of pseudo-circuits embedded within the clear structures, before fading back to invisible.. LIGHTSPEED continued inserting them, gaining speed and coiling up the spiraliing tower until her suit had jetted her to the top, some several million crystal memory boards later. "All in." "Starting up the sequence, now." KOMMAND relayed. "You know this reminds me of the supercomputer from that anime...something about "Odin"...searching for Odin...eh. It'll come to me." "Now of all times you think of an anime reference?" "Why not? You'd prefer me to bring up "Veeger?" "Star Trek, now. You're a wild woman, KOMMAND." "It's not like I'm going to mellow with age." "Kidding aside, how long until--" "The sequencing is happening as I speak. By the end of the day the whole network will have self-repaired. And when that happens, the Council will notice immediately. When they do..." "Don't remind me." Suddenly DAIMYOU's image appeared on both ends. "Good work, you two. Now hurry on back before you're discovered, LIGHTRUNNER." "I'm up, over, and gone!" "You know we really should use a system more like the AURORA--" "No. That is not viable. Besides. The Galactic Federation would never allow it." "Spoilsports." "KOMMAND, this is serious. We need A.E.O.N. completely functional and we need to ensure Volt follows our plan." "Well, that's up to Fate and Destiny. If they're in agreement, we have nothing to worry about." "And if the Goddesses do not show favor?" "Does the phrase, "We're boned" ring a bell?" As the day unfolded, on many worlds...many timelines...many universes, A.E.O.N. slowly came out of its slumber, becoming aware of the past, present, and future once more. A Galaxy-wide mega-computer capable of artificial clairovoyance; omnipresence and omini-awareness of the whole of existence...at least what we were aware of. Even I knew there was no way that even something this grand could ever be aware of everything that is...ever was...ever would be. Remembering those limits is how I kept A.E.O.N. in check to begin with. With that awareness came connectivity...the network that the Council prided themselves on. And it wouldn’t be long before their technicians, who had been working on it for the last 5 years, discovered it suddenly popped out of its coma. “Sir? Sir! I think you should take a look at this...” “Inform the Council, immediately.” In chambers... “...how are we expected to reinstate Arcade if we can’t even find him?! Without A.E.O.N. we’re searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.” “Daimyou has given us a slow death sentence. We could comb all of existence for all time and never find him.” “I refuse to accept this as our fate. This is our empire. We’ve invested too much for too long for this all to be undone” “But to defy Daimyou? Our fates would be that much worse--” “Certainly this has to be bigger than one mere--” “Daimyou is far from “mere”. Need I remind she has the authority to revoke the immortality of any member of this council. We’ve all lived beyond our natural life spans a thousand if not a million fold. To lose immortality is to instantly become dust. That was the fate of--” “No! No! NO! NO! Do NOT bring up the council traitor!” “That should have been Adonis’ fate. Not one of ours.” “Are you saying you disagreed with the council’s decision? There was no other way after he was found guilty of illegal technology and arms dealing to Ivo Robotnik! We were directly responsible for the End Game of ACM-001 and the fallout afterward!” “We are under no obligation to accept responsibility for anything. We’re above the consequences.” “If that were the case the case...then why is one of us erased from time, space, dimension, and life itself?!” The arguing continued back and forth until.. “Umm...we have a r-report--” “You! You dare enter these proceedings?” “We summon you. You do not come to us!” “I knon, it’s just that--” “Out with it. What possible reason could you have to dare intrude upon the sanctity of this council?” “It’s...just that....A.E.O.N. is back online.” Dead silence. “WHAT?!?” “We have the diagnostic reports. The whole newtwork is operational.” “Councilman, is this true?” The head of the council accessed his holo-globe...sure enough. “Fortune smiles upon us once again...” “There’s...more.” “Oh?” “We’ve found him. We’ve found Volt Arcade.” “Are you telling me...after five years, no less than seconds after the network came back online...that Dr. Volt Alessandro Arcade just pops up out of nowhere?” “Tell us where he is.” “Tell us and your promotion is assured.” “Pr-pr-promotion?” “Do not make us repeat ourselves.” “It’s planet RMS-001 in the Capcom region of Videoland. Time period 20XX. Exact coordinantes in space, time, and dimension to follow.” “Send a Chronos Freeze Team down there immediately. Lock down all bystanders and preserve the timeline; use of Neurolizer Torroids authorized. Take Volt Arcade alive.” “Sir, what about High Empress Daimyou’s orders--” The councilman turned to speak. “Yes, Councilman...” Daimyou’s voice suddenly boomed as her holographic image almost completely filled the room. “...what about my orders?” She placed her hands on her hips and bent over, glowering at the council, inches away from its director. “...your orders will be followed as instructed.” The councilman responded, grabbing his handkerchief and wiping his very sweaty brow. “Do not deviate. Even in the slightest. I will know. The consequences will be...unfortunate. And very permanent. Time, space, and reality are far more crucial than the whims of any one or the whole of this council. Do not let its people, places, and events down again. I will not tolerate another Universal City...” With a backlash of mojikara energy the coucil was pressed up against their chairs as if the gravity spiked exponentially. Then Daimyou was nowhere to be found. It took a moment or two before the council caught their breath, having the wind knocked out of everyone. “Make it so...our lives depend it it.” Sub-Entry 030: "The Council Comes a Calling/Reinstated": I didn't think much of it heading off world to RMS-001 with Asriel, Pit, and Rock in tow. The Blue Bomber had spent a fair amount of time in our town and it was time to go back to his home and his creator and his family. To boot, Asriel was already thinking about soccer tryouts when he made the jump to high school. To be honest, I though he was good enough, already, that he could turn pro. I think I ended up embarassing him. I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that going off world that day could end far different than I would be prepared for. I guess I should have planned for that. Joke's on me; as much as I stayed on guard for 5 years, I shouldn't have let myself become complacent. "Mnnnn...ahhhhhh!" Asriel stretched as we came out the other side of the Cyber Gate. "Home again." Rock emerged with Pit. "So many advancements. Mortals are truly amazing. Every time I come here, I cannot fathom how much different it is than Angel Land. The humans of my world make advancements all the time...even after so long...I feel like our world will never catch up to yours." "Maybe it doesn't have to. Maybe it just needs to be what it is and that's okay. Besides, you're not without your own innovations. I'd swear that Great Sacred Treasure of yours was made on our world." "Dintos...seems ahead of his time quite often." I came out last with Violet and Bunnie at my sides. "Back to the place it all turned around." "You're not still dwelling on what led up to it?" "Water under the bridge. Azzy's secret hasn't been a secret for five years now. I'm over it." “Are you?” “Are any of us, Bunnie? But seriously. I’ve kept my guard up for this long.” Asriel admired the soccer field. It was the crowning achievement of his proudest moments as a kid. He’d adapted to and asymilated many things about us. But being a “ninja soccer” player was his and his alone. He bounced the soccer ball he had brought between his knees with a light chuckle. He’d gotten even better in five years. The sport itself had been gaining ground...popularity. There was talk that Asriel might even compete professionally some day in a televised event. He asked us not to get ahead of ourselves. “This is what we all fought for. This is our time.” He looked over his shoulder. “Wow. That’s...deep.” Violet seemed kinda taken by surprise. It was rare when we could leave her speechless. “Indeed.” Bunnie nodded. I finally let go. It took five years but I was finally at peace. It didn’t even occur to me that I was dropping my guard at that moment... That’s when... “Huh?” In simultanaeity, they came down from the sky as light streaks. But I knew they weren’t Wily’s robots teleporting in or the legacy of Zordon, carrying on the defense of their world. No. I recognized those as chronotron displacement transports. “Oh sh--!!!” I didn’t finish. “Volt, what’s happening?!” Asriel grabbed onto my shoulder. Rock, Pit, and the others were just as alarmed. “Freeze! This is the S.T.C. Agency. Natives to this world stand down and do not interfere. Your memories of this incident will be rewritten to preserve the timeline! Do not attempt to assist the suspect!” “Oh my god...they found me...I don’t know how but they found me...” I inadvertantly quoted my mentor, the night of Twin Pines Mall. “RUN FOR IT, AZZY!!!” “Who, who?!?” “Who do you think?! My old organization!” “I’ll call for backup!” Rock suddenly transformed into Mega Man and clicked on his helmet’s ear-port. “Dr. Light! Trouble at the Rock Field stadium! We need backup--” Instantly, the eight generation 1 robot masters beamed onto the field. “Someone call for burnin’ justice?!” Fire Man raised a Fire Storm torch to the sky. “We got your back, Rocky.” Bomb Man rolled a Hyper Bomb across his arm, over his shoulders, across the other arm and into his other hand. “But wait! They’re humans and humanoids! We can’t hurt them.” Cut Man kinda stepped back. “A problem indeed. But nothing Light’s finest can’t handle. Keep your cool and fight to distract or disable. No direct assaults. Not even light injuries. The first law is pretty clear, boys.” Elec Man orderd. “This is clearly a waste of our time. We should just slow them in their tracks and help our allies escape.” Time Man glowered with a dour expression. “Slick strategy, bro. I say we cage them in a perimeter of my oil and Fire Man gives it a light. By the time it burns out, we’ll be long gone.” “I don’t know...they look pretty scary...” Ice Man trembled for a moment. “N..no! We have a duty, soldiers! We’ll hold the line!” He suddenly changed his tone, trying to sound like a soldier. “Well I don’t know about all this tactical stuff, but sometimes a foreman’s gotta do what a foreman’s got to to do.” Guts Man rubbed the underside of his huge, overslung, overbite-of-a-jaw. “Alright! You came!” Mega Man looked optimistic. “Sir, they’re resisting. Orders?” “No choice then. Lock em’ down.” “Chronoton Detonation authorized! Bracers on, prepare for tachyon entropy!” “Deploying now!” “Hmm? They appear to be using time-based tech. No matter. I will simply--” “FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!” And with that the spherical, crackling blue pulse spread outward, engulphing everyone. When the light cleared. “IMPOSSIBLE!!!” I heard Time Man should before...nothingness. “Ungh...what was...!” Asriel rubbed his head then looked again. “Pit? Rock?” He turned to where they had stopped moving in their tracks. “Guys?!” “No...!” I gasped. “Freeze!” The storm troopers gathered around Asriel and myself. “Dr. Volt Alessandro Arcade AKA Neil David C--” “No! Leave him alone!” Asriel interrupted, cutting off my last name...my birth name. “This one’s not affected, sir!” He grabbed Asriel by the wrist. “He’s wearing a bracer!” “It’s keyed to his bio-signature. It looks like it’s been modified just like Arcade’s. We can’t disengage or override it. Either of theirs.” “Sir?” “Bring him, too.” The commanding officer turned to me. “Volt Arcade, under the authority of the S.T.C. council we place you under arrest. You are to return immediately.” For years I felt completely under the council’s thumb and hesitant to speak up. But I was feeling a lot braver after 5 year. I wasn’t about to let Asriel see me as a corporate whipping boy. “The Council didn’t have the stones to come after me themselves. They had to send the rent-a-cops?” “Watch it.” He pointed a finger right at my nose. “I’m out. They didn’t want their founder. This is the second time they’ve burned me and now they want me back? Once burned, twice shy. THey don’t get a third strike.” “You seem to forget you don’t have a choice here.” The commander locked my wrists with those familiar neon blue ring handcuffs. Then did the same to Asriel. “Stand by to return to base. Bring us home.” “This isn’t over.” I narrowed my eyes. “Neurolizer pulse triggered.” “What about the robots? Neurolizers don’t work on their kind.” “Hack their memories via tachyon link. Preserve the timeline at any cost. Also hijack any video survailence and communications in the area. Find and neurolize anyone watching and listening in.” When the light show ended... “...huh? Rock? What we doing here?” “Pit? I...could ask you the same. Um...welcome to my home I guess.” “What were we...doing?” “I don’t know. But...my brothers are here. Maybe we were having a reunion or something. Let’s go back home and say hello to Dr. Light...” Meanwhile the two of us rematerialized on the transport platform. “Didn’t spare the expense this time did you?” I saw practically the entire security barricks crowed around the platform with weapons drawn. “Volt...I’m starting to see why you keep so many secrets from me.” Asriel looked around. “You’ve always known, kiddo. It’s just that now you’re seeing tangible evidence.” “Take this one to the holding cell.” “Over my dead body!” I snarled as I felt Asriel being grabbed and dragged away. “You can still be erased from space, time, and existence!” the C.O. stuck his weapon’s barrel in my face. “VOOOOLT!” Asriel reached out to me, still in cuffs. “Enough.” The voice boomed throughout the room and there she was. Silence ensued. Daimyou marched right up to the trooper holding Asriel. “I will handle this one personally.” The soldier was hesitant. Which was immeidately met with an angry glare with those piercing green, glowing eyes that cut like daggers. “Do you know who I am?” The voice was enhanced by an electronic VOX. While the question was directed at the soldier, there was a presence that made you wonder if it was also meant for Asriel. A gulp before Goat Son was released. “You will come with me.” “Do as she says, Asriel.” I looked him in the eyes. He nodded and followed. When they were out of sight, Daimyou undid the handcuffs...and led him to the secret rendezvous with KOMMAND within our own base. I on the other hand.. ...was led back to this place. “Volt Arcade. Again you stand before this council.” I wrinkled my nose, folded my ears back and snarled. “Your couldn’t leave me alone. Now you want big daddy to come and clean up your mess.” “Silence! Do you know how much your actions have cost this organization? How much damage--” “YOUR incompetant fools did to the time stream trying to keep your image intact.” I wasn’t having it. “How DARE you!” “What did Daimyou threaten you with? You must’ve really donked up if she demanded my return.” “This is gross insubordination.” “Get to the point and either bust me or send me back home.” “You do not get to make demands.” “I’m no fool. You wouldn’t dare drag me all this way to carry out the sentence you never passed. Not with him on the loose. Spill it. Why am I really here?” There was some murmurs around the table before the Chairman finally cleared his throat and spelled it out. “Dr. Volt Arcade...given the circumstances, and against our better judgement--” “That’s a laugh.” I muttered. “It is the decree of this council that in light of your irregular behavior, your gross insubordination, your willful desertion of duty and the abandonment of your resposibilities....” A long pause. “...that we have no choice but to reinstate you.” I was stunned for a moment. “Excuse me?” “You’ve be restored to full status and...under direct orders of Daimyou...your position is to be upgraded and your authority expanded.” Wow. That looked like it really hurt him to say. “Why should I accept?” “You are being returned to your original mission. The exploration of the Unstable Undertale Timelines.” “...go on.” I sensed it coming. “A.E.O.N. has positively identified a new unstable timeline.” “Classification?” “Pacifist.” “You want me to go back down there.” Admittedly, I was channeling a little butt-hurt from Frisk’s choice and directing it at them but... “Your research budget is expanded and you will have full authority of how the exploration, investigation, and research are conducted.” This was...probably the best deal I was going to get. I really wanted to throw it back in their faces but... “Do you accept the terms of this proposition?” A long pause. “Agreed. On the condition that you stay out of my way. Screw this up and screw me over and this organization will never recover. You can deal with him yourselves...especially when he comes knocking on your doorstep. He’s already peeked in my windows and sent his stooge; one who was on your payroll that I explicitly warned about. Just gonna say...you can keep ignoring my warning and pay the price or start listening to me for a change. Your call.” “We’ll...consider it under advisement.” That sounded nervous. I think I rattle them. “Alright then. Beam me back. I’ll take care of the arrangements.” “You give us commands? How vile!” “Get used to it. You made your own beds...now SLEEP IN THEM!” I turned and headed ou the gates. “Pleasant dreams.” I said as an afterthought. Boy. That dream thing was becoming a real reoccuring theme, wasn’t it? Heh. That felt almost self-awre somehow. Was this that theoretical fourth wall again? Nevertheless. I was returned back to where I left, the others still frozen in time; the Chronoton Detonation hadn't worn off. I would have to roll back the memory modifications and other things. Asriel soon returned a moment later. I can only imagine what Daimyou had to say...I wonder if she revealed anything. I wonder if Asriel figured it out on his own? Nevertheless...it took some...orchestration to put things back in place in order to pick up where we left off without anyone being the wiser. The alternate timeline the freeze team had put into place had been rewritten back to its original state. It was just like burning Grey's Sports Almanac had wiped away Biff Tanen's Hellish 1985. This would be a secret Azzy and I would have to keep together. But for now...something had awakened in me again. I knew what it was. It was the piece that was missing. I was finally going to see them all again. The other half of my plan for Asriel’s future was back on again and I had hope once more. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. But even if it were a dream...just like me...this dream was most certainly forever. Chapter 4 Back to Part 1 Back to Project Lost Dreemurr Next